Past Blast [literally]: Mt. Vesuvius

Mt. Vesuvius

Growing up I had access to a large collection of National Geographic VHS tapes. Aside from having one of the greatest intro-title songs ever, the videos were chock full of history and science. One of my favorites dealt with the ancient city of Pompeii and current archeological discoveries there. I remember the quiet pans on the video, showing Vesuvius overshadowing the ruins of Pompeii. So while my class abroad only spent a day in Pompeii, I made sure to get back and climb to the top of the volcano myself.

The steaming gun

A little background: Mount Vesuvius [Italian: Monte Vesuvio] is located east of Naples [Napoli], Italy. Well-known for its 79 A.D. destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum, its most recent eruption was in 1944 when US troops were occupying the Italian peninsula. Over 3 million people still live near the officially active [albeit 'green level'] volcano.

Naples in the distance

There are a number of buses that leave from Naples for Mount Vesuvius, which is now an Italian National Park. They drop you off at the foot of a path that winds around the outside of the cone, providing views of the Bay of Naples. It was cool and crisp the morning I was there; kind of eerie with its moonish-landscape of rocks and ash. At the top of the path you can see into the crater, which looks like the ash is feeding down into a funnel. White wisps of steam still make their way through the rock and dissipate into the air, letting you know there's still a hot magma connection deep beneath your feet.


If you're ever in bustling Naples and have a spare morning, I recommend visiting this quiet crater.